Travel

These five American cities are stellar launchpads to develop and progress as a climber.

Pizza, community, and 40 years of stoke—Miguel's has given the climbing community a lot to celebrate.

Hit a plateau? There’s no need to switch up your training routine, nor incorporate hangboarding. All you have to do to boost your climbing grade is relocate. To the Midwest.

Vedauwoo’s crack boulders are just as quality as its soaring splitters, yet their low height and minimal rack make them far more accessible.

Buildering is a discipline with a long history at the fringes and limitless possibility for the future.

So where are all the climbers?

Exploring the small island's tufa-laden limestone sport routes, some requiring hair-raising rappels to precarious stances above the sea.

Todra Gorge has world-class limestone with hundreds of routes for every skill level. Here’s what to know when planning a trip. 

The granola brand bolsters naked hiking communities with a system to review the country’s top nude hikes

A possible criteria for evaluating how to manage route maintenance and evolution over time

How many have you climbed?

How a legal fight between an esteemed climber and local politician in France is a harbinger of future tensions in the warming Alps.

Many a visitor has left our shores with crappy dacks (a quaint piece of slang meaning basically what you'd expect) after an exciting episode with this Aussie icon.

Check out Julie Ellison's author page.

Whereas climbing was once a niche sport of soul seekers and dirtbags, it has transformed itself into a multi-billion dollar industry. That’s had positive and negative effects on the culture of indoor climbing, which in turn shapes the community at large.

Although the Gunks are known for spectacular moderates, the most prevalent grade is 5.10, and these seven 5.10s rank among the best.

Plymouth Gin is all about keeping our oceans clean and the martinis dirty

Either be mad about overcrowding or try these productive actions.

Editor at large Jeff Jackson literally ropes in a cast of oddballs to belay him on new routes at Sequoia National Park.

The world’s highest tattoo parlor just opened up at everyone’s favorite climbing destination.

The secret history and modern rebirth of Western Colorado’s sleepy Unaweep Canyon.

Every year, the climbing gods find a way to throw a wrench in our best-laid plans

The Moose’s Tooth, topping out at 10,335 over Alaska’s Ruth Gorge, is one of the most iconic formations in North America.

A climbing advocate asks what climbing means given the context of the great environmental challenges of our time.

For many American climbers, Spain evokes images of heinous overhanging sport routes—the exclusive playground of our sport’s elite. Spain’s playground for mere mortals is El Chorro. 

Torrential rain reimagines this climbing landscape; a stand start become a sit, or the boulder itself can roll on its side.

Beginning in 2024, anyone traveling above 9,500’ must pay up to climb one of the world’s most popular glaciated peaks.

Located in a small tent at Plaza de Mulas (14,300 feet), Miguel Doura’s The Nautilus is the highest-altitude art gallery in the world

Did the rules that climbers hated actually save Hueco Tanks? (From 2019)

Deciphering the cryptic lore of the Sierra Nevada's remote, seldom-visited Citadel.

Best practice for climbers is now to pack out your poo.

The purpose-built climbing gym represents a zeitgeist of our age. At the heart of it is the humble spray wall.

Deep in the Cascades, you can top out huge walls without placing gear or pulling 5.10 moves on routes like Flyboys, which climbs 1,800 fully bolted feet at an achievable 5.9. (From 2020.)

Bob Van Belle once wrote:“Woodson’s greatest significance lies in its past.” But the glory of the crag resides as much in its beauty and the joy of current climbers as it does in its history.

Having spent the better part of three weeks in El Potrero Chico, I was emotionally prepared for what might have otherwise been a very disturbing discovery.

Let the debate begin! Here are the best 25 boulder problems in America... or 25 of the best... across a wide swath of regions and grades. (From 2021)

For 40 years the Windtower had just one terrifying route up its Northwest Face. Now it has three, each established in a vastly different style.

"Exploding pieces of metal hit me like bullets. I’m dropping through swift jerks of ripping gear. All of the protection pulls... except for one wire behind a wobbling spike." (From 2010.)

The 'Tom Egan Memorial Route' (5.14) was Canada’s hardest alpine rock climb. The entire route fell off of Snowpatch Spire last December.

Sendhaus™ is the premier facility for affluent millenials that heard rock climbing was a great workout.

No need to wait until you can lead 5.12 or poop on a portaledge. If you can lead 5.6 trad, you can climb here, especially if you follow these 10 tips.

Ethan Pringle calls it "a little piece of France in Northern California.”

Chris Sharma, Katie Brown, and Nate Gold put Hampi on the map for Westerners in 2003. Now local climbers are developing climbs and climbing-adjacent businesses. But there are headwinds. 

These historic areas are still amazing destinations today.

Canada’s Vampire Spires are an impossibly rugged range in a seldom-visited wilderness. Follow contributor Jeff Achey on a rollicking amphibious assault: 100 miles by raft down the rowdy Nahanni River, followed by a first ascent to an untouched summit.

This article was originally published in Climbing No 371. It's appearing now in front of the paywall for the first time.

Andrea, a conversion van, sports a mobile climbing wall to bring the sport to underserved communities.

As a prologue, it should be noted that all three of us—Baqar Gelashvili, Giorgi Tepnadze, and I—feel grateful to have lived this adventure. The whole escapade felt like a return to a romantic era of mountaineering, yet in a natural, ecological style, with a small circle of friends, dishing out a powerful test of our capabilities.

Climbing in Sri Lanka, a nation of 22 million people, is so under-developed that it largely owes its existence to one man... who of course hopes to change that.

'The Crack in The Cosmic Egg’ is a 10-pitch aid route on Mt. Moroni. It went free at 5.13- R in November 2021.

With perhaps the exception of Rumney, Lone Rock may possess New England’s highest concentration of 5.13-on-up sport climbs for a wall its size.

Uncovering approachable routes for the everyday climber in South Patagonia.

Red-tagging designates a route as under construction/still unclimbed by its “owner.” The practice, though logical, rubs people various ways.

Rifle Mountain Park has a history, reaching back to the canyon’s first sport climbs from the late 1980s and early 1990s, that played a critical role in the modern explosion of difficulty in American sport climbing, especially on overhanging stone.

It's cold out, but that doesn't mean you can't get out. Here are six crags where the sun always shines... or it's at least warm enough to get out on cloudy days.

No chalk, no people, no waits: The 5 best Yosemite moderates off the beaten track.

Why risk a severe road rash by climbing slabs? Simple: it will make you a better climber.

A new route on Minaret Peak led to an even great find with an ascent of Alam-Kuh (15,906 feet) in a country that for now is too dangerous to visit.

Getting started in the Alps can be intimidating, and picking your first climb can mean the difference between a rude awakening and happiness. The Balmhorn in the Bernese Alps practically guarantees a soft landing.

This article was originally published in Climbing No. 380 under the title "Circuit Court."

The Rock, right in San Diego, was like no other.

The Canadian Rockies boast some of the best long ice routes in the world. With the borders newly reopened, it’s time to sharpen the tools and gas up the car for your dream winter road trip.

In his “Forgotten First Ascents” series for Rock and Ice, Owen Clarke dug up cool climbs from the past and talked to the climbers who made them happen. This one: Malaria, Rhumsiki Tower, Cameroon, 2007.

Your Virgin Island itinerary is simple: send, rinse, repeat.

Memories of youth, temptation and trying to out climb the long arm of the law.

Rising over 19,000 feet, Africa’s tallest peak isn’t much of a “climb,” but makes for an excellent first trek at altitude.

In the Elbe River Valley they were climbing 5.9+ by 1905 and 5.10+/5.11 by 1922. And they were doing this with knotted slings as pro.

Tufas, food, wine, sunshine, and a hearty culture await those who escape to the Italian island climbing paradise.

Back in 1979, tower trips could be serious business. Spring-loaded cams had yet to debut. Falls were rare, but potential air was huge.

Ever.

“It only takes a few people a year to really do some damage.”

The Access Fund does many things, but one of their most effective strategies has been to help local climbing organizations acquire and protect threatened climbing areas.

From the archive: James Lucas finds his way (and our history) at the Virgin River Gorge.

How headpointing became a legitimate, go-to tactic on Peak District gritstone.

Aconcagua is perhaps the easiest climb of its elevation, but kills climbers each year—and shouldn’t be underestimated.

From Red Rock to Acadia, Asheville to Maui, these climbing destination are unforgettable stocking stuffers.

“I’ve been scrubbing climbs that are V15 that I’m literally saving for when Jimmy [Webb] or someone comes back in town... There’s a lifetime of climbing here.”

If a hold is bigger than your hands, it’s a waste of materials and wall space. Also: I miss taped boulder problems.

This curated selection of Glen Denny images captures the rawness and wild adventure of Yosemite in the 1960s.